Tampa Real Estate Blog

    There are real estate agents who resort to tricks, (some might call them misleading information), to entice a prospect to choose them to sell their property.  A particularly damaging one, especially if you need to sell quickly, has the complete opposite effect - it usually increases the time needed to sell your property, especially a home.  The tactic: the agent gives the prospect an artificially high estimate of the home's selling price.

Upon hearing a valuation that was much higher than they thought, or than they had been given by more honest agents, the prospect sees dollar signs, gets excited, and often signs a contract to list the property with that agent without further investigation.  The questionable agent knows that this is likely to be the prospect's reaction, which is why they purposely inflate their opinion of the property's worth.

What happens then?  The property sits, garnering little or no activity.  This is because buyers and their agents will usually know that the home is overpriced and won't bother looking at the property.  They believe the seller isn't really interested in selling, and won't waste valuable time.  The net effect is that the property misses the 'flurry' of activity that a good agent can develop during its initial offering to the marketplace, which is usually the time when a properly priced property can get the most interest.

The listing agent then tries to get the seller to lower the price, which could take several weeks, or even months, because the seller will usually cling to their visions of a larger than expected profit.  By this time, the 'newness' of the listing has long ago expired and it will take even more time before renewed interest develops.  The tragedy here is precious time has been wasted and that translates to money lost by the seller - their tax, insurance, and mortgage payments are still coming due.  This exact thing  happened to me several years ago, before I became a Realtor^®.  Fortunately, I recognized the problem and quickly found another agent to list my home, but I've seen others who have had 3 months, or more, added to the time it took to sell their property.

    Here are a few examples of South Tampa properties, listed on the Multiple Listing Service, which have lowered their prices within the last few days (As of 8/27/07).

Original Price    1st Decrease    2nd Decrease     Address

$1,549,000      $1,390,000       $1,295,000      4806 Culbreath Ils Wy

$475,000            N/A                $439,900       1191 Shipwatch Circle

$699,000            N/A                $650,000       1703 Jetton Avenue

$795,000          $750,000           $725,000       3302 Palmira Avenue

$367,500          $359,700           $349,000       3218 Oakellar Street

This is just a small sampling of the many listed properties that have lowered their asking prices.  There are hundreds more.

What does all this mean?  Well, the obvious answer is that we are in a buyers market.  But there is more to it than that.

To get the highest return on investment, Sellers need to be extra careful.  First, (and this may be bad for my business...) if they can wait to sell, they should.  It's that simple.  However, if they do decide to sell, they must make sure that the Realtor® they choose has integrity (won't 'sell them short') and that he or she understands the nuances of the negotiation process.  Otherwise, the seller may be outmaneuvered by a superior negotiator.  Some negotiations, particularly in a buyers market, can be like a chess match.

On the buyer's side, they can feel assured that now is a wonderful time to buy.  However, with so many good homes to choose from, they should begin their search with a tight set of criteria and then see all the homes that might fit their needs.  If none match exactly, they then should re-evaluate and 'loosen' their requirements.  Also, when they fiind a home that they really like, that's priced fairly, don't push too hard for more consessions from the seller.  It is wise to remember that the seller has already taken a psychological beating, and pushing them too far might negate any possibility of a deal.  The seller could decide that they don't want to sell to that particular buyer and that will be it.

Your comments are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to contribute.

    Davis Islands is slowly being rebuilt.  Old homes are being leveled, one at a time, to be replaced with new and much larger ones.  In the next 20 years, many, if not all, of the original Davis Islands homes will be gone.  I, for one, am in favor of the change.

Although the new homes are more expensive, which, unfortunately, will make living here unaffordable for some, many of the old homes have outlived their usefulness.  In many cases, it just makes more sense - practical and financial - to destroy and rebuild rather than renovate what's there.  For people like me, who enjoy watching the construction process,  it is a fascinating transformation.

While walking the Islands with my wife, I am continually amazed at how quickly homes 'suddenly' are gone.  I then eagerly revisit these properties to see what new and wonderful creations will take their place.  Some are not to my liking, but all are definitely an improvement from what was previously there.  It's almost like being in a new subdivision, but this one has homes on the property's that are for sale.

    Don't believe the media.  Being in the middle of the real estate business provides insight.  And while my opinion might be shaded by my involvement, some facts cannot be disputed.  It's a shame that the media does not report them more precisely.  They choose words that lead many to believe that, today, it is impossible to get a mortgage.

According to the mortgage people I have spoken to, SunTrust Bank and InterStar Lending to name a few, simply stated, this is not true! 

Mortgage lenders have to make money, too.  Naturally, the way they do this is by lending money to people for the purpose of buying property - homes, in particular.  As such, mortgage money is available and most people with good credit - excellent credit is not necessary - will be able to get a mortgage, especially if they can provide full documentation.  'No Doc' loans are still available, too, but these will cost the borrower more (higher interest rates) than they have in the past.

Let the media sensationalize... That's what they do.  But if you want to know what's really happening - the truth of the matter - it's always best to do your own research!

    Some real estate brokers charge their clients, both buyers and sellers, extra fees.  These may be disclosed up front - and they should be - but it is not 'unusual' for the client to find out about them until the actual closing.  These fees masquerade under several categories of names, such as MLS fees, or Document Storage fees, and can range from $100 to $300.

In my view, these fees are part of the brokers cost of doing business and should not be charged in addition to the commissions received by the brokerage... But that's just my view.  From what I understand, I am in a distinctly small minority.  I think it's important for the general public to know about these sorts of things.